When people saw Alia Bhatt on screen for the first time, in Student Of The Year, everyone took her to be just another glamorous doll, who can only sing and dance with the hero like a rich girl, flashing branded clothes and elegant makeup. But then came Highway, and her unbelievable performance of Veera Tripathi make both the audience and the critics take notice of her acting prowess.

Alia Bhatt will soon be seen in Karan Johar's film, 2 States which releases next week. Karan holds a very important place in her life. She says, “Whenever I get a film, I get so excited that I share it first with Karan and take his opinion. Karan is my mentor. Well, I haven't signed any three-film contract with him that would keep me busy for five years. So it's important for me to seek his suggestion on every offer that I get.” Alia, who plays a South Indian girl in 2 States, shares a special bond with her co-star, Arjun Kapoor, “Arjun is very special to me because he met me when I was shooting for Highway. That was a transition period for me, and I really needed to talk to someone. He may look like a boring person, but he's not. I really like his sense of humour.” Media has continuously been comparing her with Kareena Kapoor. She's bored of this comparison. She says, “I've got used to hearing all this. Though, why would I feel bad on being compared with her? I'm just being compared, not being linked up. But I don't feel that it's right, because I don't think anyone can be like Kareena Kapoor. I 'm a great fan of hers myself.”

A while ago she was in news for a wrong reason, when on the Koffee With Karan show she gave a wrong answer when asked the name of India's Prime Minister. This became national news. But Alia is not ashamed of it. Without being affected by such news, she says frankly, “I know that it was a blunder on my part. But what to do? I was a bit too excited at that time, and in my hurry I blurted out Prithviraj Chauhan instead of Manmohan Singh. It happens...” She quickly adds that she was a good student at school and her only weaknesses were science and math.

Alia is a pet of Papa, Mahesh Bhatt. She tells how protective her parents are of her, “Not just Papa's, I'm everybody's pet at home. Papa has given me a good life. I had a lovely childhood. He got me admitted into a good school. My home is beautiful and grand. I used to get pocket money, which I would spend every day. But I never wore designer clothes. The first designer dress that I wore was bought with my own money.” Alia gets a lot of tips from her successfull producer-director father, “Papa tells me to always stay grounded because continuous success becomes a habit and then we keep running towards success. But what after you've touched success? Somewhere or the other you have to face failure.” Maybe that's why she's afraid of it. “What can be a bigger fear for an actor than that of failure? You're afraid of the time when the audience may not like to see your face.” Alia will soon be seen with Varun Dhawan in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya.

Alia has grown up in a filmy atmosphere, and so she knows that there's no private life for celebrities and that media can sneak into their lives at any place. “It doesn't matter to me. Media does all this for professional reasons. But yes, I'll definitely feel bad if I don't look nice in any picture clicked by the media. I've no issues if someone clicks me while shopping or holidaying, as long as it's not a bathroom pic,” she says with a smile. She continues further,

“Your privacy can be breached only when you allow people to cross the border. I've drawn a line around me, which nobody can cross. However close a person may be to me, no one can enter inside that line.” Alia loves simplicity and there's one thing about the world of glamour that she really hates, “Once you become a heroine, you are always under pressure to look beautiful. I don't like it. What is this yaar... especially when you are back after a long flight. You are sleepy and your eyes are swollen. Anybody will look bad in that condition!”Those who know Alia may consider her young, but she's a very mature girl. Ever since she's become a celebrity, a lot of people have started surrounding her, trying to give her some advice. But Alia steers clear of these people. She says, “Wherever you go, there are people ready to give advice. I take what I like and discard the rest. Once someone said that I should become modest. I should dress in a manner that I am noticed by people. I felt really bad. I dress for myself, not for people. I ignored that advice.”

Alia dearly wants to work with her mother, Soni Razdan. She says, “We discuss many such projects where we can work together. I'm sure it'll happen, though I don't know when.” We hope her wish is soon fulfilled.